Filling machine with filling heads that are respectively provided with a downward skewed valve

ABSTRACT

A filling machine including at least one filling tube ( 22 ), whereby a product flows through said filling tube and said filling tube is placed opposite the opening of a receptacle that is to be filled. The feed for the filling tube is controlled by a valve ( 30 ) which is arranged in a downward skewed position in relation to the tube and the valve is joined to the tube by a feed pipe ( 28 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention specifically concerns machines that make it possible tofill hollow containers such as bottles or pots, with a product, forexample, a food product. Such machines generally comprise a rotatingcarousel, which holds a series of filling spouts. The containers aremounted on the carousel at a given point on the circle that itdescribes, being arranged below a filling spout. Once the container isplaced under the spout, the latter is filled with product in such a waythat the product is poured into the inside of the container. When adesired degree of filling is achieved, the feed from the spout isinterrupted by a valve installed in the feed circuit of the spout andthe container is then removed from the carousel, it being understoodthat this is before the carousel has made a complete revolution.

The arrangement of the multiple spouts on a carousel makes it possiblefor the machine to insure the filing of a number of containerssimultaneously. It makes it possible to insure filling a significantnumber of containers in a given period of time, in spite the fact thatthe filling is an operation that takes a relatively long time. In fact,it is especially necessary to prevent the product from foaming too much,which would lead to an only partial filling of the container or to aloss of product by overflow. A filling machine can thus contain morethan one hundred spouts, each spout having an associated valve.

In conventional filling machines, the distribution valve, which controlsthe product feed across the feed pipe, is connected to the fillingspout. The valve and the spout are then either integrated directly inthe same housing or separated from each other by a short distance.

However, the fact of having the valve close to the spout poses spacerequirement problems, particularly in the case of carousel machineshaving a significant number of spouts. Thus, the space requirementconstraints in the area of the carousel zone where the spouts are fittedgenerally lead to machine designs in which the valves are not veryaccessible. This lack of accessibility makes maintenance of the valvesdifficult and, in the case of breakdown, increases the time for repair.

In addition, these great space requirement constraints may make itimpossible to use certain types of valves.

To remedy these inconveniences, the invention proposes a filling machineof the type containing at least one filling spout through which aproduct runs, the spout being intended to be placed across from theopening of a container to be filled, characterized in that the supply tothe filling spout is controlled by a valve which is skewed with respectto the spout, the valve being connected to the spout by a feed pipe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to other characteristics of the invention:

the valve is skewed vertically toward the bottom with respect to thefilling spout;

the valve is skewed vertically toward the bottom with respect to thecontainer to be filled, the latter being itself arranged below thefilling spout;

the valve is fitted together so that it is essentially vertical to thefilling spout;

the valve contains a vertical sealing pin that is completely held in avertical circulation chamber across which the product runs, the lowerend of the circulation chamber is delimited by a seat against which thepin moves into place toward the bottom to interrupt the circulation ofthe product, and the pin is lifted upward in the circulation chamber byan electromagnetic field in order to be lifted from the seat in order toallow the passage of the product across the valve;

the machine has several filling stations each containing a filling spoutand an associated valve and the filling stations are held on a rotarycarousel and are offset at an angle to each other in a regular manneraround the axis or rotation of the carousel;

the valves are fitted in an external radial part of the carousel;

the filling spout is surrounded in a fixed housing that is attached tothe spout, the housing containing a passage hole across which the spoutis fitted, and the housing contains a mobile closing flap which, in theclosed position, blocks of the opening and closes the housing in asealed manner and the machine has the means to cause a cleaning agent tocirculate inside the housing;

the closing flap is controlled by actuating means between its closedposition and an open position, in which the hole of the housing is open;

the housing extends in a direction that is essentially perpendicular tothe flowing direction of the product; and

the fixed housing of each filling station is attached to the carousel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be found uponreading the detailed description that follows, as well as in thedrawings attached, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic axial cross section view showing one part of acarousel of a filling machine designed according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of FIG. 1 showing, most particularly, thecleaning housing of a filling spout as well as a closing flap and itsactuating means, the flap being illustrated in open position; and

FIG. 3 is a view identical to the one in FIG. 2 in which the flap isillustrated in the closed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 schematically and partially illustrates a filling machine 10intended to insure the filling of containers, such as bottles 12, with aliquid, e.g. a flat liquid such as water. Naturally, the invention maybe used for filling any type of container with any type of product.

The machine 10 is a rotating machine, which comprises a carousel 14mounted so that it turns with respect to a fixed stand 16, around axisA1, which, for the sake of convenience, will be considered to bevertical.

The carousel 14 comprises a series of filling stations 18, which have anoffset to each other at an angle in a regular manner around axis A1 butof which a single one is illustrated in the figures. Each fillingstation 18 is the same for carrying out the filling of a bottle 12. Forthis purpose, it has, in particular, a device 20 for supporting bottle12, a filling spout 22 by which the product intended to fill the bottlepours out, and a supply circuit which is mounted between the spout 22and a rotating distributor 24 of machine 10.

The supply circuit comprises a feed pipe having two lengths of pipeupstream 26 and downstream 28 between which a valve 30 is fitted whichmakes it possible to control the flow of product in the circuit and thusthe distribution of the product into the container.

The rotating distributor 24 is fitted in the bottom part of carousel 14,radially to the center of same. It comprises a fixed part on which feedpipes (not shown) are arranged which are fastened to stand 16 and whichin particular allow the carousel to be supplied with product and inaddition, as will be seen later, a cleaning agent and compressed air.

In addition, distributor 24 has a rotating part 32 on which the pipesare connected, including the feed pipes 26, 28. The two parts of therotating distributor 24 have communication means, which make it possibleto selectively join the feed pipes fastened to the corresponding pipesof the carousel.

Each filling station 18 comprises a vertical hollow column 34 which isfastened by its lower end to a horizontal plate 36 and which has, at itsupper end, the filling spout 22 which extends toward the outsideessentially along a radius with respect to axis A1.

The valve 30 is fitted below plate 36, essentially vertical to theassociated filling spout 22 in such a way that the upstream piece ofpipe 28 of the feed duct extends across a hole 40 in plate 36 to theinterior of column 34.

Naturally, the filling operation must be carried out while avoiding anycontamination of the product. This is critical when the product is afood product and all the more so in the case of milk products, forexample.

Thus, it is necessary to carry out a cleaning of the filling machine atregular intervals. The cleaning can consist of removing all traces ofthe product, of removing dust and other foreign bodies with theintention of eliminating biological or bacteriological contaminants. Inthe sense of the present patent, the cleaning may thus include theconcepts of washing, disinfecting, decontaminating and sterilizing.

The cleaning is usually carried out with a liquid or gaseous cleaningagent, which is allowed to circulate in the circuit contacted by theproduct on the inside of the machine. In order to limit the consumptionof cleaning agent, and above all to facilitate its recovery with theintention of possible recycling, preferably the agent is allowed tocirculate inside a closed circuit.

For this purpose, column 34 of the machine described has, at its upperend, a housing 38 in which the enclosed filling spout 22 is found inorder to make it easy to clean spout 22 and in order to create a closedcircuit.

As can be seen, especially in FIGS. 2 and 3, the end part of theupstream piece of pipe 28 of the feed pipe extends in a plane that isradial with respect to axis A1 in such a way that the housing is fixedextending radially toward the outside with respect to column 34. Thehousing 38 comprises a base 42 which is fastened on column 34 and whichis extended radially toward the outside by a tubular wall withrevolution 44 around radial axis A2. The wall 44 is closed at itsexternal radial end with an end wall 46 which is made up, for example ofa plug that is screwed in, in a sealed manner on wall 44.

The end part of the feed pipe 28 crosses base 42 in a sealed manner toopen out into the closed space delimited by tubular wall 44. The fillingspout 22 is curved toward the bottom to be located across from anorifice 48 placed in wall 44, this orifice 48 itself being across fromthe filler opening of bottle 12 when the latter is placed on its support20.

Advantageously, housing 38 comprises a mobile flap 50 which makes itpossible to close orifice 48 so that the housing delimits a partiallyclosed and sealed space in which spout 22 is enclosed.

The flap 50 is made up of a tubular sleeve 52 which is mounted so thatit slides on tubular wall 44 and on the outside of same. The flap 50 maythus move between an open position illustrated in FIG. 2, in which it ispulled back in such a way as to release orifice 48 and a closed positionillustrated in FIG. 3, in which it is moved in such a way as to coverorifice 48.

The rear end of sleeve 52 has the form of a collar 54 which slides in asealed way in the inside of an annular chamber delimited around thetubular wall 44 by a tubular shell 56 with axis A2 which surrounds therear end of the wall 44. The collar 54 thus plays the role of a piston,which delimits in its chamber two parts front 58 and back 60. Therespective volume of these two parts 58, 60 is thus variable as afunction of the collar position and thus the position of flap 50 alongaxis A2.

Also by imposing a fluid pressure in one or the other of parts 58, 60 ofthe chamber, a displacement is imposed on flap 50 toward one or theother of these positions, open or closed. In other words, the collar 54and the two parts 58, 60 of the chamber form an actuator withdouble-action fluid pressure.

When the machine has several spouts, it is possible to provide that eachfilling station 18 would be equipped with its own electrical controlvalve for flap 50. Actuation of flaps 50 is carried out individually andthus may possibly have shifted over time from one spout to another.However, when the machine has a significant number of filling spouts,the machine may have a single electrical control valve for all thespouts.

In both these cases, due to the invention, the actuation of the flapscan be carried out simultaneously on all the spouts in a very shorttime. Advantageously, the actuation of the flaps may be carried out whenthe carousel is in rotation.

When housing 38 is closed by flap 50, it is possible to create acleaning agent circulation on the inside making it possible to clean notjust the inside of spout 22, but also the exterior of same. To do this,a cleaning liquid, which fills housing 38 is allowed to circulate acrossthe intake duct, valve 30 and spout 22. The liquid is then evacuatedfrom the housing over an auxiliary port 70 which is arranged in base 42and which opens out into the interior of the housing. The auxiliary port70 is, for example, connected by an auxiliary pipe 72 and by thedistributor 24 to a recovery and recycling device for the cleaningliquid, which makes it possible to limit the consumption.

Preferably, the auxiliary port 70 is fitted in such a way as to open outat a low point of housing 38, to make possible the most completeevacuation of the cleaning liquid by the auxiliary pipe 72.

In an advantageous manner, to further improve the cleanliness during thefilling with the use of such a machine, it can be provided that at themoment of filling, a sterile gas such as sterile air, nitrogen or carbondioxide is injected into the inside of housing 38. The sterile gas thenfills the internal volume of housing 38 and escapes across orifice 48 bysurrounding the jet of product that is delivered by the filling spout inthe direction of bottle 12. Thus, the product is isolated by a sterilegas envelope between spout 22 and bottle 12 and is not exposed to anypossible sources of environmental pollution. Advantageously, the sterilegas may be introduced into housing 38 across the same auxiliary port 70,which is used to evacuate the cleaning agent in the course of themachine cleaning phases.

According to the invention, the valve 30, which controls the circulationof the product in the feed pipe 26, 28 is skewed, in this case skewedvertically toward the bottom, with respect to the filling spout.

In fact, it can be seen that this valve 30 is fitted below the plate 36while the containers to be filled are intended to come over it when theyare in place on their support, the containers then being located belowthe filling spout.

In the configuration illustrated, the valve 30 is thus locatedessentially vertical to the spout to which it is connected.

In this way, in the machine according to the invention, the length ofthe upstream piece of pipe 28, which connects the valve 30 to spout 22,is at least equal to 50 centimeters and it can reach a length greaterthan one meter. This provision presents several advantages.

A first advantage is in the possibility of fitting the valve 30 in alocation where it is easily accessible to be able to insure maintenance.In fact, in the machine described, it is located in the radial externalpart of the carousel and not in the center of same, behind spout 22, asin the case in previously known machines.

In addition, it can be seen that the valve 30 is connected by tworemovable connections 76, respectively to upstream 26 and downstream 28end pieces of the feed pipe. Thus, if the valve fails, it is very easyto access it and remove it to replace it in a minimum amount of timewith a new valve while the machine is in operation, which makes itpossible to considerably reduce the machine down time and thus the timethat the production line in which the machine is included is down.

A second advantage consists in the case of machines having a significantnumber of spouts 22. In fact, the angular space available for eachfilling station 18 is limited. By arranging the valves 30, eachconnected with these spouts 22 on a large diameter circle, withessentially the same diameter on which the spouts are fitted, each valve30 has a space that is adequate to allow easy installation and such thatspace requirements will not be a determining factor is choosing thetechnology used for the valve.

Thus, in the machine illustrated, a choice has been made to useelectromagnetic valves of the type described in the documentsDE-A-1.600.719 or FR-A-2.206.726.

As is illustrated very schematically in FIG. 1, this type of valvecomprises a core 78 which is able to move in a circulation chamber 80,across which the product can circulate. The circulation chamber isvertical throughout and it is delimited at its lower end by a seat 82against which the core 78 comes into contact to interrupt thecirculation of the product across valve 30.

To open the valve, electromagnetic means 84, such as coils or magnets,make it possible to create magnetic fields around the chamber whichcause a raising of core 78 in such a way that it lifts off seat 82, thusfreeing the passage for the product.

One advantage of this type of valve is that it is the normally closedtype, that is, just because of the effect of its weight, the core 78drops down against the seat 82 and obstructs the passage of the product.Thus if there is a failure of the electromagnetic means, valve 30 closesautomatically. This is achieved without it being necessary to arrangeelastic retraction means in circulation chamber 80, which thus makes itparticularly easy to clean.

Still, this advantage is naturally not obtained except by keeping thevalve in the vertical position shown. Thus, since the orientation of thevalve is imposed, it is necessary to arrange a certain space forinstalling it, which allows the design according to the invention.

In addition, since the valve is mounted separate from the spouts, thismakes it possible to free a great deal of space around the latter, it isthus possible to design the fairings in relatively simple shapes whichdo not gather dirt that is difficult to clean.

Finally, since the volume of filling spout 22 does not include thevolume of the valve, the housing 38 in which spout 22 is located remainsclosed, possibly also with reduced volume.

What is claimed is:
 1. A filling machine comprising: more than onefilling station, each comprising a filling spout through which a productruns, the spout being located across from the opening of a container tobe filled, and the filling stations being held on a rotating carouseland are offset to each other at an angle around an axis of rotation ofthe carousel; and a valve associated with each station which controls asupply of the filling spout and which is connected to the spout by afeed pipe, the valve being positioned below the filling spout, wherein,for each station, the valve has two distal end portions and ispositioned such that a flow of product through the valve is verticallyoriented from one of said two end portions to another of said two endportions, and the valve is fitted in an external radial part of thecarousel.
 2. The filling machine according to claim 1, wherein the valveis fitted essentially vertical to the filling spout.
 3. The fillingmachine according to claim 1, wherein the valve comprises a verticalclosing pin which is entirely held in a vertical circulation chamberover which the product runs, and the lower end of the circulationchamber is delimited by a seat against which the pin comes to resttoward a bottom of the circulation chamber to interrupt the productcirculation and wherein the pin is lifted upward in the circulationchamber by an electromagnetic field in order to be lifted off the seatto allow the passage of the product across valve.
 4. The filling machineaccording to claim 1, wherein the filling spout is enclosed in a fixedhousing that is attached to a support of the filling spout, the housingcomprising a passage orifice across from which the spout is fitted and amobile closing flap which in a closed position closes the orifice andcloses the housing in a sealed manner, the machine further comprisesmeans to make a cleaning agent circulate on the inside of the housing.5. The filling machine according to claim 4, wherein the closing flap iscontrolled by actuating means between its closed position and its openposition, in which the orifice of the housing is released.
 6. Thefilling machine according to claim 4, wherein the housing extends in adirection that is essentially perpendicular to a flow direction of theproduct.
 7. The filling machine according to claim 1, wherein the fixedhousing of each filling station is attached to the carousel.
 8. Afilling machine, of the type comprising several filling stations, eachcomprising a filling spout through which a product runs, the spout beinglocated across from an opening of a container to be filled, each stationhaving an associated valve which controls a supply of the filling spoutand which is connected to the spout by a feed pipe of the type in whichthe filling stations are held on a rotating carousel and are offset fromeach other at an angle around the axis of rotation of the carousel,wherein, for each station, the valve is skewed vertically toward thebottom with respect to the container to be filled and is fitted in anexternal radial part of the carousel, and wherein the valve comprises avertical closing pin which is entirely held in a vertical circulationchamber over which the product runs, such that the lower end of thecirculation chamber is delimited by a seat against which the pin comesto rest toward the bottom to interrupt a product circulation and suchthat the pin is lifted upward in the circulation chamber by anelectromagnetic field in order to be lifted off the seat to allow apassage of the product across the valve.
 9. A filling machine, of thetype comprising several filling stations, each comprising a fillingspout through which a product runs, the spout being located across froman opening of a container to be filled, each station having anassociated valve which controls a supply of the filling spout and whichis connected to the spout by a feed pipe of the type in which thefilling stations are held on a rotating carousel and are offset fromeach other at an angle around the axis of rotation of the carousel,wherein, for each station, the valve is skewed vertically toward thebottom with respect to the container to be filled and is fitted in anexternal radial part of the carousel, and wherein the filling spout isenclosed in a fixed housing that is attached to a support of the fillingspout, the housing comprising a passage orifice across from which thespout is fitted and a mobile closing flap which in a closed positioncloses the orifice and closes the housing in a sealed manner, themachine further comprises means to make a cleaning agent circulate onthe inside of the housing.
 10. The filling machine according to claim 9,wherein the closing flap is controlled by actuating means between itsclosed position and its open position, in which the orifice of thehousing is released.
 11. The filling machine according to claim 9,wherein the housing extends in a direction that is essentiallyperpendicular to a flow direction of the product.